*
In the shocked silence that followed, it was not until Zotz went to pick up the torch he had left by the hatch that anyone realised the lights had come back on throughout the network of tunnels. With Reactor A and the rest of the engine room drifting away on an orbit all of its own, the console for Reactor B had reset itself and restored power to the Dandridge Cole.
The silence continued as they rode the railcar back to the palace, where Ravana and Zotz got to see the crude passageway Fenris had hacked from the back of his wardrobe up through the cliff into Access Tunnel A. Inside the palace, now brightly-lit and looking decidedly less eerie, they caught up with Hanuman, who having pulled the Platypus into the dock had been ordered by an extremely worried Wak to come and look for them.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, startled by their weary expressions. “Did you find Fenris?”
“Fenris is dead,” Ostara told him.
“It was just like Alien and the Terrorclones,” added Zotz. He picked up Ravana’s cat and brought its furry face close to his own. “Clever Jones saved us all from a mad mechanical priest and his lizard men!”
“Zotz was amazing,” said Ravana and looped her arm through his. “A real hero!”
She was preoccupied by thoughts of her father, for he had been unconscious still when Hanuman left. As soon as they were out of the palace, she borrowed Ostara’s wristpad to call Dockside and was relieved beyond words when Miss Clymene informed her that Quirinus was awake and waiting to talk to his daughter. His voice was croaky but full of pride for how Ravana had brought the damaged Platypus home, having heard an excited retelling of the tale from Endymion, Bellona and Philyra. Miss Clymene informed Ravana that with the power restored, the autosurgeon was ready to remove the final pieces of shrapnel. The relief in the tutor’s voice alone told Ravana everything she needed to know.
The world outside the palace was still in darkness, though occasional sparks of electricity could be seen leaping from the damaged heating and lighting units inside the sun. Hanuman had made his way to the palace on foot and was not impressed when he learned Wak’s hovertruck was on the far side of the cliff. Fortunately, upon reaching the deserted streets of Petit Havre, they found the monorail was once again running and they were soon aboard and trundling through the gloom towards Dockside. The street lamps shone brightly and the interior of the hollow moon was lit up like a starry sky.
By the time they reached the Dockside medical unit, Quirinus had been in and out of surgery and was sitting up in bed, chatting to Miss Clymene and Professor Wak. There were pads over his eyes held in place by fresh bandages, but after giving his daughter the longest hug of her life, he was quick to reassure her that everything was going to be fine.
“The autosurgeon took a piece of metal this big out of my eye!” he exclaimed, holding his hands unfeasibly wide apart. “Okay, I exaggerate. It looks like I’m going to be stuck in bed for a few days but my nurses say I should make a good recovery.”
Miss Clymene and Bellona smiled. Behind them, Endymion and Philyra were talking in excited whispers with Zotz, who having found some overalls to replace his missing birdsuit was filling them in with all that had happened.
“Hanuman says the Platypus will live to fly again,” Ravana told him. “It’s safely back in the hangar, awaiting repairs. I’ve got a maintenance robot checking the damage right now.”
“That’s my girl!” he said. “So Taranis was hiding here all along?”
“Is it true what he said?” Ravana asked. She could not bring herself to tell her father that it was he who had inadvertently brought the priest to the hollow moon in the first place. “That had I been a boy I was to be raised to rule Lanka?”
“Taranis created tales of destiny to suit his own end,” he told her. “Only you can shape your future. You must always remember that.”
“He gave me this implant. He said it was part of his plan.”
“He was a very devious man,” Quirinus said bitterly. “No one will mourn his passing.”
Ravana was not sure that referring to Taranis in the past tense was a safe thing to do. Zotz had already pointed out that the airtight hatches might have saved Taranis and his clones from immediate asphyxiation when the engine room was blasted into space. Part of her also regretted that she had not quizzed the priest further about what exactly it was he had ordered to be implanted inside her head, for many mysteries remained. She would never forget the first agonising moment when she had been torn by the pain of the Platypus, not to mention the way she had felt the dreadful inner anguish of Taranis’ disciples. She was still considering whether to voice her fears when they were interrupted by the arrival of Ostara, Maharani Uma and Surya. The medical unit was becoming very crowded indeed.
“Quirinus O’Brien,” remarked the Maharani. “You seem to have come out of this more battered than that old ship of yours!”
“An audience with the exiled drama queen herself,” murmured Quirinus, recognising her silken tones. “Forgive me if I do not stand and curtsey.”
“Behave yourself!” the Maharani snapped. “You saved my son and for that I will be forever in your debt. That goes for each and every one of you here! You certainly managed to show those political miscreants a thing or two. I particularly liked your broadcast,” she added, addressing Philyra. “I forgive you for damaging my cyberclone.”
“The cyberclone!” exclaimed Surya. “We left it in Ayodhya!”
“All the more reason to return,” she replied. “I paid a lot of money for that.”
“You’re going back to Yuanshi?” asked Ravana.
“Hanuman and Ganesa are taking us on the Sun Wukong,” Surya told her.
“We’ve hidden away in this asteroid for far too long,” said the Maharani. Behind her, Hanuman and Ganesa were at the door, but seeing the crush inside the room decided to stay where they were. “It feels right to end our exile on the eve of Diwali, assuming Kartikeya has not given in to Jaggarneth and cancelled it. Now Taranis has gone I may be able to make the foolish commander see sense and bring an end to this infernal petty war.”
“Good luck with that,” remarked Quirinus, but meant it. “Can’t say there’s much left for anyone here. Wak tells me the Dandridge Cole is a bit of a dead duck.”
“We’ll make it habitable again,” Wak replied firmly. The prospect of living anywhere else was not one he cared to think about.
“You’ll come and visit, won’t you?” Surya asked Ravana.
“Probably best if you stay clear of Yuanshi for a while,” Hanuman advised her. “Que Qiao agents will have realised by now that our mischief at the plantation was linked to the attack at Sumitra and will be on the lookout for someone with a special implant like yours.”
“I’m sure we could find you a safe port,” Ganesa added. “It was nice meeting you.”
Ravana smiled. “If I can, I will,” she told Surya. “Promise.”
“The shuttle from Ascension will be here soon,” said Wak. “There’s a few more goodbyes to get through before the day is out.”
“All my fretting over the music competition suddenly seems so trivial after all you’ve been through,” Miss Clymene said to Ravana and Zotz. “Although it’s a shame the trophy got damaged. The display cabinet at the academy is looking a little bare.”
“I forgot! I fetched it from the Platypus,” Zotz told her. He reached into a pocket and handed her the battered cup. “I’ve knocked most of the dents out.”
“School is going to be such an anticlimax after this,” remarked Philyra.
“Back to reality,” agreed Endymion. “No more aliens and mad priests.”
“What was Taranis like?” asked Bellona. She still had Fenris’ Isa-Sastra and the bits she had read both mystified and captivated her. “I never saw him.”
“Count yourself lucky you never will!” exclaimed Ostara. “Mark my words!”
“I wish I was so sure,” Ravana mused.
She looked to where her cat lay curled aslee
p on top of the book she had taken from the priest’s lair. Her electric pet was badly in need of a recharge after vomiting bits of the priest’s spider walker all over the monorail carriage floor. The book’s last owner, the man who had named her demon king, had cheated death at least once before.
Destiny or not, Ravana had a feeling she and Taranis would meet again.
THE END
EBOOK EXTRAS
Illustrations
Barnard’s Star system
Epsilon Eridani system
About the Author
Steph Bennion is a writer, musician and civil servant in Westminster, born and bred in the Black Country but now living in South London, England. Her science-fiction stories are written as a reaction to the dearth of alternative heroes amidst bookshelves swamped by tales of the supernatural. For every aspiring vampire or wizard, the world needs an astrophysicist, an engineer, or at the very least someone who can make the trains run on time.
Also available from WyrdStar
PAW-PRINTS OF THE GODS
A novel by Steph Bennion
On the forbidding planet of Falsafah, archaeologists are on the verge of a discovery that will shake the five systems to the core. Ravana O’Brien, snatched from her friends for reasons unknown, finds herself on another wild adventure, this time in the company of two alien greys, a cake-obsessed secret agent and a mysterious little orphan boy at the centre of something very big indeed. Their journey across the deadly dry deserts of Falsafah soon becomes a struggle against homicidal giant spiders, hostile machines and a psychotic nurse, not to mention an omniscient god-like watcher who is maybe also a cat. The disturbing new leaders of the Dhusarian Church and their cyberclone monks are preparing to meet their masters and saviours. But nobody believes in prophecies anymore, do they?
Paw-Prints Of The Gods is the sequel to Hollow Moon; a light-hearted adventure for all young adults and adults young at heart!
THREE TALES FOR CHRISTMAS
Short stories by Steph Bennion
Three seasonal short stories from the worlds of Hollow Moon!
TO DANCE AMONGST THE STARS: Can the poor, down-trodden kitchen slave Ganesa find a Prince Charming in the shape of young, dashing space captain Hanuman? As they meet for the first time on the dance floor at the American Embassy’s Christmas Ball, she is the first to admit he’s not exactly her type in this tongue-in-cheek pastiche of Cinderella.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MISTER WOLF: Christmas at the exclusive ski resort of Kirchel, with its concrete log cabins and artificial snow, was a tedious affair. But the robot security wolves that patrolled the dome at night were rejects from the brutal Gods of Avalon game show. When the power fails, Hestia and her friends would soon wish they had never ventured into the forest in search of park ranger Granny.
IT’S A BLUNDERFUL LIFE: It is Christmas Eve and revolution is afoot on Yuanshi. Pursued by armed agents, Fenris contemplates his fate as he prepares to end it all with a midnight leap from a bridge. Then a mysterious stranger arrives to persuade him that life is worth living, but can a Samaritans hologram really hope to convince him by showing the greatest blunders of his life?
Hollow Moon Page 36